Connect with us

Northeast

Online data protection bills become law in Maryland

Published

on

Online data protection bills become law in Maryland

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed two measures into law on Thursday that are aimed at better protecting personal data online from Big Tech, including a bill making Maryland the second state to try to create strong limits on information collected on children.

The measure, known as the Maryland Kids Code, seeks to limit data that could be collected from children online and protect them from being flooded with harmful material they were not trying to find.

“Look, the bottom line is Big Tech has been preying on and victimizing our children for way, way too long,” said state Sen. Ben Kramer, a Democrat in the suburbs of the nation’s capital.

SENATE MULLS TIKTOK BAN AS TRUMP-ZUCKERBERG BATTLE BREWS IN BACKGROUND

Big Tech companies sought to assure lawmakers that the industry could take care of problem without interference from the government, Kramer noted. “But the fact of the matter is, leaving the fox to guard the chicken coop has left Big Tech fat and greedy, because they have prioritized cash over our kids,” the senator said.

Advertisement

Supporters say the new law aimed at protecting children was crafted to withstand court challenges like one that halted a California law. For example, the measure incorporates case law and established consumer protection law, supporters said.

Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of NetChoice, said the group shares lawmakers’ desire to better protect children online. “But this goal can be achieved in ways that don’t violate the Constitution and leave a litany of serious, unintended consequences in their wake,” he said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore testifies in support of legislation aimed at making housing more affordable and protecting renters during a bill hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

NetChoice is a commercial association whose members include Google, Amazon, Meta and TikTok. It challenged the California law.

“Unfortunately, the law Gov. Moore signed today will fail to accomplish its goal — creating a safer online environment for young Marylanders. An unconstitutional law will not keep anyone safe. By discounting the rights and privacy of their citizens, Maryland lawmakers have unfortunately signed onto a path that will make everyone worse off — especially children,” Szabo said in an email.

Advertisement

Under the law, businesses would not be able to profile a child by default, with some limited exceptions, or process personal data that is not reasonably necessary to provide an online product with which the child is actively and knowingly engaged.

Del. Jared Solomon, a bill sponsor, said lawmakers were careful to make sure the measure is not meant to moderate available content. He said protective language was added to ensure a child could not be prevented from searching for content online.

“If you want to go and you want to look for things that you probably shouldn’t be looking at, we are not scrubbing that from the internet,” Solomon, a Montgomery Democrat, said. “But what we are saying to companies is you should not be essentially be accumulating data on somebody and making assumptions that that is the content that they want to see.”

Design It For Us, a coalition advocating for safer social media and online platforms for children, praised the new law.

“We hope this will bring urgency to other states to pass and adopt much needed Kids Code legislation and end Big Tech’s power over our safety and privacy,” said Zamaan Qureshi, a co-chair of the group.

Advertisement

The governor, a Democrat, also signed the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024.

The new law will impose certain duties on businesses to protect an individual’s personal information. For example, a business in possession of personal information will be required to implement and maintain security procedures and practices to protect the information from unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure.

“It puts guardrails up on the amount of data that companies can collect on people online and also what they do with that data, and it gives consumers more control over their own data,” said Del. Sara Love, a Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored the measure.

The new law also will create consumer protections and rights, as well as disclosure obligations, relating to online personal data controlled or processed by certain entities that conduct business in Maryland or provide services or products that are targeted to residents of the state.

Advertisement

A consumer also will have the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data and certain profiling activities.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Boston, MA

Boston Police Blotter: City snow slowly but surely getting removed

Published

on

Boston Police Blotter: City snow slowly but surely getting removed


The Boston Police Department reported a lower-than-usual number of incidents in the 24-hour period leading up to 10 a.m. Saturday, which could be attributed to temperatures in the single-digits and the massive amount of snow still on the ground.

But Boston Public Works says they’re on the second one.

“No rest for the weary! After another successful night of large-scale snow removal across #Boston, PWD district continue work today removing snow banks and clearing alleys, crosswalks & crub ramps to improve safety and accessibility,” the city department reported Friday.

They were at it again Saturday, when they reported they had cleared more than 2,667 loads of snow from city streets — totaling 41,168 cubic yards.

Advertisement

Incident Summary

BPD responded to 178 incidents in the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the department’s incident log. Those included three aggravated assaults and 18 instances of miscellaneous larceny.

Arrests

All of the below-named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

— Juan Martinez, 120 Southampton St., Boston. Shoplifting.

— Theodore Murray, 242 Highland Ave., Somerville. External warrant arrest.

— Keith Cunningham, 450 Boston Post Road, Marlboro. Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Advertisement

— Arjan Vladi, 5337 Washington St., Boston. Possession of Class E drugs.

Courtesy/Boston BPW

Boston Public Works Department workers have been hard at work clearing the massive amount of snow covering Boston. (Courtesy/Boston BPW)



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Pittsburg, PA

Public safety officials warn against walking on Pittsburgh’s frozen rivers

Published

on

Public safety officials warn against walking on Pittsburgh’s frozen rivers


As ice continues to build on Pittsburgh’s three rivers, people are taking the risk of walking across the ice despite warnings from public safety officials and scientists.

Around 6 p.m. on Saturday, a few individuals could be seen walking from the North Shore to Point State Park. Others took pictures with a navigation buoy. In both cases, officers and park rangers encouraged people to come to shore. The situation kept repeating like a game of icy Whac-A-Mole.

Around the same time, on the river by the Mr. Rogers statue, Jermaine and Ashton, two men in their early 20s who didn’t want to give their last names, sprinted across the ice, dropping on their stomachs to continue sliding.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” one of them said. “We’re having fun.”

Advertisement

Also on the ice was a family, including two young children.

“We’re having a great time seeing the frozen river,” the father said. “If there was nobody here, I wouldn’t have dared to come this far, even.”

Despite acknowledging she was scared, the mother said they did it anyway.

While not necessarily illegal, National Weather Service Pittsburgh meteorologist Jason Frazier said walking on the ice amounts to taking a dangerous risk.

“It’s definitely something we discourage,” Frazier said. “What people don’t maybe realize is that while the ice appears like it’s nice and solid, maybe thick, the thickness can actually be very different in a lot of different places of the river.

Advertisement

Ice thickness ranged from six inches to one inch to spots without ice, Frazier said. Unlike a lake, he said, rivers have a moving current underneath, which leads to varying thicknesses.

“If you actually do find a crack that’s maybe because of snow cover, you could fall in and be transported away from the spot you fall in,” Frazier said.

Both groups KDKA-TV spoke with had the same line of thinking about why they were safe, saying they stayed close to the shore where the water was shallow. That was more the case for the family than it was for the two young men.

“We can still say that there are dangers even on those shoreline areas,” Frazier said.

Both are due to friction on the shorelines that disrupts ice formation and snow covering cracks in the ice, and if you fall in, even there, consider the water temperature is at or below freezing.

Advertisement

First responders are also at risk when people go on ice because they could get called in for a rescue, Frazier said.

Around 9:30 Saturday night, yet another person was walking in the middle of the Allegheny, roughly from the Fort Duquesne to the Clemente bridges.



Source link

Continue Reading

Connecticut

Connecticut Science Center temporarily closed for burst pipe

Published

on

Connecticut Science Center temporarily closed for burst pipe


HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – The Connecticut Science Center is temporarily closed for a burst pipe in the building.

As a result, the Science Center posted on Facebook saying they will be closed on Sunday, February 1.

“Our team has been working tirelessly to clean and restore the affected areas, but unfortunately, we will not be ready to reopen on Sunday,” they wrote.

The Science Center told anyone who pre-purchased tickets to use them on a future date or contact the office on Monday for a refund.

Advertisement

“We look forward to welcoming you back very soon,” said the Connecticut Science Center.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending